The present application claims priority to Italian Patent Application No. MI 2000A 002103, filed Sep. 28, 2000.
The present invention relates to an engine half-trolley of simplified structure for industrial vehicles, in particular for vehicles with more than one driving wheel.
In certain types of known industrial vehicles used for heavy operations and jobs and in very demanding environmental conditions, such as for deforestation, gathering trunks, work in situations where there is mud or mire, etc., it is necessary to have a secure and sturdy wheel drive to guarantee efficient operation of the vehicle.
For this purpose, there are currently available engine half-trolleys for industrial vehicles, which are driven by a central transmission and which, by means of a series of cascaded gears set inside a casing of the half-trolley, drive the wheels of the vehicle in rotation.
The placing of this series of gears in the casing of the half-trolley means that it is necessary to provide a series of supports, a series of machined seats for installing the various gears, and a certain number of bearings, which in turn entails the need for machining operations of a certain precision; moreover, the assembly operations involve some degree of complexity and delicacy.
In addition, the amount of components inside the casing for a wheel drive of this sort entails the need to keep in store a certain number of spare parts, and this in turn means tied-up capital and problems of storage space.
It should moreover be borne in mind that large-sized industrial vehicles have a number of driving wheels, and hence the amount of components referred to above must be multiplied by the number of wheels on each vehicle, and consequently the aforesaid costs and problems are amplified beyond all proportion.
In addition, the half-trolleys that are currently known and used are of a square shape and present considerable overall dimensions, which lead to difficulties of penetration of the vehicle in muddy and swampy environments.
A general purpose of the present invention is to provide an engine half-trolley for industrial vehicles that has a structure that is as simple as possible, with a number of components limited to the minimum.
A further purpose of the present invention is to provide an engine half-trolley for industrial vehicles which, albeit simplified, preserves high functionality and practicality also when being assembled or undergoing maintenance.
Finally, yet another purpose of the present invention is to provide an engine half-trolley for industrial vehicles which is particularly compact, which can be set in an industrial vehicle in contained spaces, and can be adapted to particular requirements in the presence of heavy loads.
The above purposes according to the present invention are achieved by providing an engine half-trolley for industrial vehicles set at a side of a vehicle chassis and comprising a casing (12) from which there comes out at least one wheel hub (13) for a respective wheel (14), an input shaft (17) to said half-trolley (10) being connected to a differential (16) of the vehicle, said half-trolley further comprising an arm (15, 115) forming part of said casing (12) wherein said arm (15, 115) has at least two bevels (26, 26xe2x80x2) a first bevel (26) located on at least one side of said arm (15, 115) in the area external to said input arm (17) and a second bevel (26xe2x80x2) located on at least one side of said arm (15, 115) between said first bevel (26) and said wheel hub (13), wherein within said arm (15, 115) forming part of said casing (12) there is set in succession, between said input shaft (17) and said wheel hub (13), a first ring bevel gear (18), which meshes with a first bevel pinion (19) set at one first end of a continuous transmission shaft (20), said transmission shaft (20) carrying, at its second end, a second bevel pinion (21), which in turn engages with a second ring bevel gear (23) fixed on a shaft (24) connected to said wheel hub (13).